Productivity Improvement Ideas
This article steps through some key productivity improvement ideas that are useful for individual employees as well as larger groups. The ideas fall under four key sections relating to employees and their environment.
Your first key focus should be employee know-how and knowledge. A well-trained staff member will instantly be more productive. This should be included as part of any new employee to the company in a starter training program. Any innovation strategy plans the company has should also factor in additional training that employees will need if new technologies are going to be used.
The operational processes and programs used by workers to effectively work together should be your next focus. Establish if the operational day-to-day practices have any flaws. The best feedback for this often comes from the employees themselves. Make sure you have a reporting chain of command to gain/garner this type of information. Additional feedback regarding which machinery or technologies are being used which employees do not rate highly should also be obtained and acted upon/reviewed.
The work environment itself can play a big part in worker productivity. In fact of all productivity improvement ideas, this is one that can be quickly altered in order to see real benefits. Make sure employees have a safe and friendly work environment (no bullying policies, health and safety regulations, etc.). Bright and tidy work environments are also key to improving employee effectiveness with natural daylight being the preferred means of lighting areas.
The final element for analysis is employee motivations. Some key productivity improvement ideas relating to reward and motivation include having a transparent wage review policy (based on performance itself), support for third-level education and various discounts and subsidies (e.g. canteen). You should also be looking at non-financial rewards that can be given such as broadening individuals skill set to make their work more interesting, career development opportunities and ensuring workers are tasked to the right roles.
